Fallacious Views Of The Craft.

FALLACIOUS VIEWS OF THE CRAFT .

IJOXDOX , SATURDAY , AUGUST 27 , 18-59 .

OUR article under the above title hacl scarcely made its appearance in the Freemasons' Magazine , before a singular corroboration of our statement as to the curious misconceptions ofthe Order which exist among the uninitiated , appeared in the columns of our powerful contemporary the Times . A certain Mr . James McCaldin feels himself much aggrieved

because Mr . "Whiteside , in the full torrent of his parliamentary eloquence ( on tho question of setting aside certain jurors in the county of Antrim ) , stated the said McCaldin to be an atheist and a violent political agitator . McCaldin thereupon writes to the Times denying the charges in an indignant strain ancl demanding that his denial should be inserted in the columns of that journal .

N o \ v we can sympathise with the wounded feelings of Mr . McCaldin , and ive consider also that the steps ivhich he has taken to vindicate his fair reputation , are proper ancl manly . But the proofs ivhich he has adduced in support of his counterstatement to Mr . "Whiteside involve two such curious non sequiturs thafc we quote them for the benefit of such of our readers as may have overlooked this epistle iu their daily Times reading .

" As to my being an atheist , ' ( says our injured friend ) I am well-known in Belfast as a Presbyterian , not altogether without zeal for my religion . I have from childhood been a systematic attendant on public worship , ami since I arrived at a suitable age 1 have been a regular communicant . So much for the ' atheism ' ivith which Mr . Whiteside has branded my character in the House of Commons . As to my being ' a violent party man '

, during a life of twenty-five years in active business I never ivas a member of any political association , never having been an Orange - man , a Freemason , or a member of the Odd Fellows , or any other society . "

Wo should much like to know what idea this worthy Irishman has formed of Freemasonry . Judging from the somewhat incoherent document which we have quoted , it is as far from being a favourable one as it is from being correct . Ho assures us that he is not an atheist , which we arc delighted to hear ; he also further gratifies us by the

information that he is nofc a " violent party man "; and in support of these assertions he declares himself to be totally unconnected with the Masonic body , which lie lumps together wifch such societies as the Odd Fellows ancl Orangemen—thereby implying that hois neither a political agitator nor an atheist because he is unconnected with Freemasonry and those two societies .

We trust that among Mr . McCaldiris acquaintance in . Belfast , there may be found some brother of the , Craft who will charitably point out to him those passages in our antient charges whieh are suited to his beni ghted ' " condition ; from which he may learn that a genuine Craftsman can neither be " a stupid atheist " nor involve himself in plots and conspiracies

against the government of tho country where he dwells . It would be as well also to explain the vulgar error of classing the Order in the same ; category with , such modern and totall y dissimilar societies as those mimed above ; ancl to mform Mr . James McCaldin that his being a Freemason would lie considered b y most educated and well-informed

men , as a far greater security for his being a worthy nicuiiber of society , than even his being a " zealous Presbyterian" or a strict attendant upon the ministry of tho Bev . John Macnaughten . Of one thing he may rest assured , that a man vvho knows the world so well as Mr . Whiteside will not be likel y to class him as a violent party leader—since his total

inabilit y to lead his fellows in any way , either for good or bad , is b y no means faintly shadowed forth in that ignorance of the phases of life which are passing around him—which would oe fatal to any am . ivisliirag * either to lead the minds or enlist phe sympathies of hw fcHoV-citiwn ? .

Fallacious Views Of The Craft.

A SCOTTISH ARCHIMEDES . ABOUT the year 1768 there lived , but can hardly be said to have flourished , in the v / orld of literature , a self taught genius , named Martin Murdoch . Of the early career of this author we know but little ; his own account of his origin was

that he was the son of a Scottish clergyman , whose cure of souls was situated in the remotest part of the Highlands . The elder Murdoch taught his son the principles of mathematics , and left him at his death a little flock on a small farm ; but science alone flourished with Martin . Misfortunes and accidents , and the tin suitableness of his occupation to

the bent of his mind , compelled him in a short time t ' o break up and dispose of his stock and farm . Finding himself in . great distress , and without any prospect of ameliorating his condition where he was , he determined upon going to London to try if he could get a living there by teaching , arithmetic and mathematics . London , however , lie was not destined

ever to reach ; at Cleator , in Westmorland , fortune threw him in tho way of a benevolent clergyman , who was possessed not only of considerable wealth but also of a keen appreciation of merit , and a sincere love of science . Yielding to the friendly solicitations of this good j priest , Murdoch appears to have here terminated his travels , and to have remained under the protection of his benevolent patron , pursuing those studies which are the subject of thVfbngyving observations .

It is well known that the picturesque county of Westmorland abounds . in lakes and impetuous streams , which in the winter are occasionally so swollen as to overflow their banks ; the Eden , the Dove , and Winandermere , are all beautiful , but sometimes very perilous ; being remarkably deep and clear , they deceive the eye of those who attempt to ford them without a guide . It was one of these treacherous streams which at last

] iroved fatal to this endowed Scotchman . Mathematicians , it is said , often dwell iu the seventh heaven ; and forgetting earth , poor Murdoch became a victim to the other element . In a lit of abstraction , he- neglected , in crossing a river in the * winter , to exercise due caution , and was drowned in tho flower of his intellect at the age of thirty-six .

It is deeply to be deplored that one so accomplished should have mot unrewarded an untimely death , as he was a public benefit to society . At the period he adorned , mathematics was the chief subject ; of the day ; it was then that he refuted Dr . Berkley ' s ( Bishop of Cloyno ) philosophy , ancl he pointed out with great truth the difference between a fluxion and a , differential . He clearly showed that Sir Isaac Newton

was the author of this method of calculation , which the learned ? Leibnitz claimed , having published , in 16 S 4 , at Leipsic , his Elements of ihe Differential Calculus . Leibnitz received two letters from Newton , in 1677 , upon this subject ; however , ifc is of little consequence , as both great authorities arrived at the same conclusions . This treatise excited Dr . Keith to

reply , and he made it appear very plainly from Sir Isaac ' s letters , published by P . Wallis , that Newton was the inventor of the algorith , or practical rules of fluxions , and that Leibnitz did no more than publish the same with an alteration of the name and manner of notation . The German

philosopher quarrelled with . Dr . . Keith , and appealed to the Boyal Society against him , that they would be ] ileased to restrain the doctor ' s vain babblings and unjust calumniations , and report their judgment , as he thought they ought to do , in his favour . But this was not in the power ofthe Societ y , if they did justice , for ifc appeared quite clear to tho

committee of the members appointed to examine the ori ginal letters and other papers relating to the matter , which were left b y Mr . Oldeiiburgh and Mr . J . Collins , that Sir Isaac Newton was tho inventor effluxions ; and thoy accordingly published their opinion to that effect , which determined the affair . Murdoch ' s simplicity was his great charm , for he had . ihe poivei- of making the youngest- persons andeHtaad Ms theory , nrovided tlviV eli . vnb , <* d fhe ia / iae ; - of kiwwled & i -with